The invention relates generally to welding systems and, more particularly, to a modular power source that may be used for welding applications.
Welding is a process that has become increasingly ubiquitous in various industries and applications. Such processes may be automated in certain contexts, although a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations. In both cases, such welding operations rely on a variety of types of equipment to ensure that the supply of welding consumables (e.g., wire feed, shielding gas, etc.) and welding power are provided to the weld in an appropriate amount at the desired time. For example, metal inert gas (MIG) welding processes such as regulated metal deposition (RMD™) and pulse utilize a modulator to provide power quickly in response to requested power.
In MIG welding applications long welding cables may be used. Unfortunately, lengthy cables introduce significant inductance between a welding power source and a welding application. Thus, in such conditions, an additional power converter may be used near the welding application to limit the effect of the inductance in the cables. Such converters often use a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control method with a limited bandwidth and require special control circuitry. Therefore, there is a need in the field for techniques that might provide alternatives to PWM control-based power converters.